My 44 Hour Weekend in Seattle

Flights from Boise to Seattle are quick (75 mins!), cheap (around $100/RT if you book a month out!) and easy (I live about 6 mins from BOI and have an amazing best friend who's down to pick me up at SeaTac and host me any weekend) so I've made the trip back at least once a month or more every month since moving to Boise.

This past weekend trip was for a major event: my friends David and Carmela's wedding! And I was officiating it! More on that later in the blog.

Keke and I hosted our big party bus trip down to Jackpot, NV for Chippendales on Thursday night and came back Friday afternoon, so I had enough time to repack and take a nap before flying out late Friday night. My bestie Shea scooped me from the port and we swiped around on dating apps before passing out.

She had football training camp all weekend (we met playing football together for the Seattle Mist in 2010 and she just started playing again this season) so I got to sleep in for a few hours while she was at practice Saturday morning. Shea lives on Alki so I woke up around 7a and went for a beautiful 5.5 mile run around Alki. I've been battling the flu and a head cold for a week and a half so it was nice to get outside and move.

Shea picked me up after her practice and we met a bunch of her teammates for breakfast in West Seattle. We took our friend Dom home in Genesee after and tried out a different nail salon than our usual on Rainier.. it was a dope spot!

Back track to last spring- I went to brunch at Portage Bay with my friends Pat, David and Carmela when they asked me to officiate their wedding! I had never officiated a wedding before, wasn't ordained, but was so excited that they asked me and agreed!

Fast forward a little over a year later, the day was here and I was NERVOUS! I'd practiced a bunch of times by myself, with them on the phone and with them in person two weeks prior at the venue for their walk through, but I was still a little freaked out. I know I talk for a living, but this would be the most important day of their lives and the ceremony was in my hands, so I was lowkey sweating.

As I walked up in front of 200 people and waited for the ceremony to start, my heart was pounding but as soon as David walked down the aisle and joined me at the front, I felt way more calm. As his friends and family started walking down the aisle in pairs, David looked at me and wiped a tear from his cheek and said "Oh sh*t Kat, it's already happening!".. after that, I was just totally in the moment. The ceremony was perfect, their vows were so beautiful.. everything was just heartfelt and flawless. I really felt so blessed and honored to be apart of their day like that.

Some people just click when you meet. These three guys were like that. We all met in 2008 working at KUBE93 on the Hot Patrol street team. Since then we've all been laid off, fired, partied way more than anyone should, been through breakups, ups and downs, worked in every Seattle club together (Zamari, David and Pat are all DJs and I did bottle service), and just really have done life together.

The older we get, the quicker life changes. Zamari has a baby, David's married, I moved to Boise, and Pat is still single Pat Nasty in the same SLU condo that we've been after-partying at for years. These are the friendships I value so much. Friendships that have lasted through everything. People you can really depend on and trust with anything. These are my brothers for life.

David and Carmela got married on their 10 year dating anniversary!! That's huge. They've been together for so long and we all knew they'd eventually get married. Seeing people you love say their vows to each other is such a beautiful thing and I'm so grateful not only that they trusted me with their ceremony, but that I got to witness it in general.

Regardless of my relationship status or lack thereof, I love love. Seeing people in love and flourish together genuinely makes me happy. Couples like David and Carmela give me hope that my guy is out there somewhere, I just haven't met him yet.

Speaking of Pat's bachelor pad, we headed there to kick it after the wedding with one of the best men Eric and Zamari came later after breaking down his DJ equipment. I crashed at Pat's and totally forgot about daylight savings but still woke up at like 7a after passing out around 3a?! It was a wild night.

We walked to a coffee shop on Westlake in the AM and it was the most beautiful day!

I had planned to get a pedicure with my late-Grandpa's wife, Janet, on Sunday morning. Losing Grandpa three months ago has been incredibly hard on the whole family so it's nice to be around family as much as possible.

It was great to swap photos, catch up and see little Holly the pup over a pedi. My Grandpa sincerely adored Holly. I miss him so much.

My Grandma and aunt Pauley picked me up from the pedi for brunch and we went to the same Portage Bay in SLU that my friends asked me to officiate for them at! Kind of a cool full circle moment, I don't think I'd been back to that Portage Bay since.

We all got the vegetarian farmer's hash, because it's really just that good. One of the things I've missed the most since moving to Boise besides my friends and fam is the abundance of restaurants with organic and vegetarian menus. I haven't found many here in Boise, so if you've got a fave, please send a recc my way.

During brunch I checked into my flight and realized it was at 7:30p instead of the 9:30p flight I thought I'd booked. Glad I noticed, because I had a packed day still planned and still did all of it.

Shea picked me up from brunch and we went downtown to "return" half of the items Shea got at Nordstrom Rack and Zara when I was in Seattle two weeks ago. Return is in quotes because when Shea and I go to a store to return, it turns into an exchange and a surplus of spending on new items. It's a thing. We love to shop together.

We hit Nord Rack and it was Clear the Rack all weekend where clearance items are an extra 25% off.. so we were in there for like 2 hours. We didn't really have two hours to spend but we couldn't get ourselves out. Zara was next and was more of an in and out deal.

Every time we drive on 5th underneath the Monorail, we say we've gotta take the Monorail because Shea has somehow never been on it! I get it, it only goes from Westlake to Seattle Center so it's not totally useful unless you're shuffling between those two places like I did often when I lived in lower Queen Anne for a year before moving to upper QA for my last six years in Seattle. I took the Monnie a lot for shopping and movie premiers downtown.

There's a delish Boba Tea spot in the Armory at Seattle Center, and we love a Boba, so we finally took Shea's first Monorail round trip to get a tea! We literally have the most fun doing absolutely anything. We missed the Monorail coming back by seconds while someone else was scanning in, and that turned in to a good thing. More below.

We scheduled massages for 5:30p at our favorite Chinese foot massage place, Two Smiling Feet, at their Burien location so we could jet to the airport easily right after. We had exactly 18 extra minutes before we had to leave downtown and get to our massage appt, so of course we had to maximize those minutes.

We went to World Market down from Pike Place for some jewelry shopping. People sleep on World Market jewelry, they've got tons of $5 rings and earrings that don't turn your skin green! Imagine that.

We were in there for about 3 minutes when we ran into our friend Tariq! I had planned on but didn't end up having time to see him this weekend, so it was dope to randomly run into him buying a bottle of rose and artisan popcorn (a man after my own heart) before I took off. If we had made that Monorail ride that we missed 10 minutes prior, we would have been in a whole different spot and not seen him at that perfect time! It really is funny how everything affects everything. Some call that the butterfly effect, I call it God's Plan like Drake.

Okay- we made it to our massage appt exactly 4 minutes late. Got out of there and got to the airport at like 6:59p for my 7:30p flight. The security line wasn't bad but took more than 10 minutes. Because I'm habitually late to every flight, I wasn't too stressed until making it through security and checking my phone. It was 7:13p. You have to be at your gate at least 10 minutes prior to takeoff when they close the doors. Thank God I was flying Alaska and didn't have to take the tram to my gate, because I would have missed my flight for sure. I got there at 7:17p, three minutes shy of missing the flight. I love a gamble. But really there was no way I wasn't getting that massage- I needed it. My neck has been killing me for like a week. Did I do anything to warrant that? Nope, just 30 and sore for no reason at all times.

I love my weekends in Seattle. Boise is amazing and it's been fun exploring here, but I also really appreciate my time with family and friends more now than ever since I'm not with them constantly like I was before moving. It's easy to get used to having certain luxuries when they're there all the time. I think to some degree, I took for granted what a beautiful life I lived in Seattle. Now that I'm not there, I'm able to see that more clearly. I appreciate and value every moment I have with the people that I love even more than before.

I only got 3.5 hours of sleep between getting home, unpacking, showering and waking up at 3:45a for the show this morning, but what a blessing that I'm able to live in Boise and be so fulfilled in my career while still having the privilege to travel and see the people I love often. It's a trip. Life really is so dope.